Day 174

Of Free Will.

Chapter 9, Paragraph 3.

” Man by his fall into a state of sin has wholly lost all ability of Will, to any spiritual good accompanying salvation;…”

Scripture Lookup

Romans 5:6, 8:7

Reflection

When Adam and Eve sinned, they plunged humanity into a state of sin and misery. As a result, every human born of ordinary generation has inherited a corrupted nature. This corruption did not leave man’s free will unscathed. There has been a fatal malfunction in his will ever since.

Does humanity still have free will? Yes. Mankind is able to choose freely and has the ability to act upon that choice. However, the will that we are born with differs from the will Adam originally had in one vital respect: it has totally lost any ability to choose that which is good and well-pleasing to God. That ability has been stripped from us, never to return without divine intervention. No amount of “positive thinking” will ever enable the corrupted will to change the fallen man’s state.

Salvation can never be sought by oneself. The fallen man has no direction of where to find such salvation, no knowledge of how to obtain it, and no ability to move towards it. This is why Christ’s offices of Prophet, Priest, and King are essential for our salvation. Without His work in our lives, we would remain blind and lame.

Questions to Consider

• Do you ever expect fallen people to will any spiritual good on their own?